Chapter 27:A History in Legends
Phillip was just outside the Ruins of Alph with his Pokemon coaching them. Delta flew at Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto dodged. Mareep fired an electric attack at Tyrogue. Tyrogue slid under it. Wooper leapt in the air to attack Charlie. Charlie met him in the air. They both landed ready to attack. Phillip could see the way all his Pokemon had grown. He had witnessed two of Kathy's Pokemon evolve and was wondering what was holding his Pokemon back from evolving. Pidgeotto evolved, but Pidgeotto was also born in an entirely different type of setting than the rest of his Pokemon.
As he was thinking of Pidgeotto he remembered meeting Falkner on that mountain, where he learned about the legendary birds, and saw that unknown Pokemon in the sky. He wondered if somehow all of this was connected to the drawing he saw.
He wasn't as focused on their evolutions as he was their strategy and techniques, but a part of him still longed to see all of his own Pokemon evolve. They gathered around him after another hour of intense training.
"Hey guys! I'm so proud of all of you! Wooper, you might be the most agile and intelligent Wooper I've ever met. Pidgeotto you might be the strongest Pidgeotto I've ever seen. Mareep, Charlie and Delta, all of your type moves are growing by leaps and bounds. We're just waiting on Professor Elm and Foster. They should be along in a bit."
They continued training until it was lunch time. Phillip made his special food for everyone. In the distance a small helicopter made its way near Phillip. It bore Professor Elm's insignia. Once the helicopter landed Professor Elm exited, along with another young Pokemon Researcher. He had dark spiky hair and dark eyes. He wore an orange turtle neck and khaki pants with brown hiking boots. Foster spent much of his tutelage under Kanto's Professor Oak, the second summer Phillip was working with Professor Elm, Foster came and worked on some projects in the Ruins of Alph. He stayed with Professor Elm most of the summer, and Phillip had come to respect him.
"Hello Phillip! It's so good to see you!"
"Hey Professor Elm!"
Professor Elm looked around.
"I see all your Pokemon, but where is Nathan?"
"I sent him ahead with another trainer that's been traveling with us. She's pretty nice, and has a solid knowledge of Pokemon. I'll meet up with them in a day or so... if they haven't killed each other yet…"
"Why would they do that?"
"Well… Nathan is… he…"
Phillip paused for a moment, trying to find the best way to say what he was thinking.
"…he's pretty impulsive and says a lot of dumb things without thinking about it."
Professor Elm laughed.
"That sounds about right."
Professor Elm looked over to Foster. Phillip walked over to Foster and shook his hand.
"It's good to see you again Mr. Foster. Thanks for coming."
"You as well Phillip… you were always very bright, I'm glad to see that you have begun your own journey."
Foster looked over Phillip's shoulder to see all of his Pokemon.
"Are those Dratini?"
Phillip laughed.
"Yeah… that's Delta, and that one is Charlie."
Foster walked past him.
"And… this is… a blue Pidgeotto!? It's so large. Incredible!"
He investigated the three Pokemon further. Phillip laughed, shy about his Pokemon.
"Did you know that Dratini is amongst the oldest known Pokemon in the world. There are ancient places in the world where Dragonite is revered as a god."
Phillip ran his fingers through his hair.
"As a matter of fact… I did know that."
Professor Elm chimed in.
"Dragon Pokemon are Phillip's favorite. He's studied them in depth since he knew what a Pokemon was. You may even say its…"
Tyrogue interrupted with a shout. He jumped up and attacked Delta with a powerful kick. Phillip ran between Delta and Tyrogue.
"You can't do that Tyrogue! You need to apologize right now!"
Tyrogue turned his back towards Phillip and Delta and he crossed his arms. He spoke in a mocking tone. Phillip yelled at him. Tyrogue ran into the woods behind the Ruins. Phillip ran after Tyrogue, all his Pokemon, as well as Foster and Dr. Elm followed him into the woods. Several minutes had passed and they were unable to find Tyrogue. They passed deeper into the woods down a steep hill.
Suddenly the temperature changed. The air became very hot and humid. As they went further down the hill they stumbled across a campfire. There were several tools and fragments of electronics scattered about. Delta and Charlie seemed to have picked up on something. Their ears perked up and they began to slither very tall. As they went further in the sounds of a spring could be heard in the distance.
Foster looked over his shoulder.
"We're pretty deep guys. I don't think were supposed to be here."
Phillip ignored him as he pressed onward.
"Tyrogue is here, I won't abandon him."
As they carried on further the spring could be seen in the distance.
"Professor Elm, I must implore that we get back to the path."
Charlie and Delta continued forward with Phillip right behind them. Something wasn't right. They finally saw Tyrogue. He was in a defensive position. Just past him Phillip saw Betty cornering a smallcephalopodmolluskPokemon. It had a sky blue body with ten tentacles and a pale yellow, helix-spiraled shell on its back. The Pokemon withdrew into its shell. Professor Elm gasped.
"Is that what I think it is!?"
Betty turned around, caught off guard by the distraction. As she turned around the mollusked Pokemon darted deeper into the woods towards the water. Tyrogue, Charlie and Delta ran after the Pokemon. Betty glared at Phillip.
"Of course! You little twerp! You're always meddling in my business! I tried to befriend you and accept you! We could have been something special you and I!"
Betty turned back around and ran after Tyrogue. Phillip followed closely behind her. As the Pokemon went deeper into the springs there were several more Pokemon just like the shelled Pokemon. In the middle of the 20 or 30 smaller shelled Pokemon there were two larger ones, with tentacles toward the front that were shorter and thicker than those in the back. They both had a larger pale yellow, helix spiraled shell on its back. Several sharp spikes lined the shells' midsections from the front to about halfway down their backs. Phillip's jaw dropped.
"It can't be!"
He pulled out his Pokedex.
"Omastar, it'ssharp fangs could crush rock, but the Pokémon can attack only the prey that come within reach of its is thought that this Pokémon became extinct because its spiral shell grew too large."
He then turned it to the smaller ones.
"Omanyte, This Pokémon is a member of an ancient, extinct species. Omanyte paddles through water with its 10 tentacles, looking like it's just drifting along. It's a Pokémon that was resurrected from a fossil using modern science. It swam in ancient seas."
Just then Betty ordered her Zubat to attack the two large ones in the middle.
"Poison Fang attack Zubat!"
Several stings flew at the two large Omastar in the middle. All of them turned their attention to Betty to attack. She fell backwards and was crawling on the ground crying for help. When suddenly a giant robot shipping net burst out of the wall. Brett was driving it with Spinarak on the front of it. The net scooped up all the Omanyte and Omastar.
Phillip pulled out Tyrogue's Pokeball. Then he remembered that Tyrogue, Charlie and Delta were no longer with him. Phillip ordered Mareep to attack with his Electroball attack. The electric ball hit the robot. It short circuited it momentarily. The machine started back up, not releasing any of the captured Omanyte and Omastar.
An explosion came from behind the robot shipping net. Tyrogue was riding on top of Charlie and Delta. Phillip cheered. He then ordered Charlie, Delta, and Mareep to do a joint attack to the cockpit. The cockpit shot open and Brett dove out with Spinarak on his back. Tyrogue jumped towards them. Both Charlie and Delta launched a controlled Twister attack that increased Tyrogue's speed and momentum.
"Seismic Toss attack Tyrogue!" Phillip yelled.
Tyrogue slammed onto Brett and Spinarak. He spun them around and tossed them into the net part of the robot. It exploded and all the Omanyte and Omastar fell out. The many Omanyte all fired Water Gun attacks in unison at Brett and Spinarak. They were slammed into Betty and Zubat. Both Omastar jumped up and attacked them with a powerful Hydro Pump attack. Team Rocket was sent flying back towards Route 36 as they shouted in the distance.
"Team Rocket is blasting off again!"
Phillip took off towards Tyrogue and gave him a huge hug.
"I'm so sorry I've been neglecting you Tyrogue! Your my best friend! You don't need to be jealous of anyone."
Tyrogue hugged Phillip back. He turned to Delta and gave a genuine apology. Professor Elm and Foster approached Phillip.
"That was an incredible display of teamwork Phillip. You have trained your Pokemon well."
Professor Elm then turned back towards Foster.
"Did you know about the Omanyte?"
Foster looked at the ground and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.
"I did. Omanyte are so rare. I didn't want anyone to know and expose them. I found the two helix shells and did some experiments on them when I was studying the Ruins when I was here a couple of years ago. At the time there were only two Omanyte. I guess they began mating and now this little underground spring has become something of a preserve for them."
Professor Elm and Phillip took a minute to take it all in. Foster continued.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Professor, I was just trying to protect them. Maybe if their numbers continue to grow, we can release them back into the wild. For the moment this is all they have."
"It is a noble cause, Foster. Your secret is safe with me. What about you?" Professor Elm turned to Phillip.
"I won't be telling anyone. More people like Team Rocket might show up. That wouldn't be good for anyone."
Professor Elm nodded.
"It's agreed then. Your secret is safe with us Foster. I'll see what I can do to create some protection for this area."
Professor Elm looked back at Phillip.
"Didn't you have something you wanted to show us?"
"Oh yeah!"
Phillip recalled all his Pokemon. They had earned a good rest. Once they left woods and spring behind them Phillip started a fire and he told them about his vision in the forest, and then what he saw on the mountain where he caught Pidgeotto. After eating dinner, they returned to the Ruins of Alph where Phillip saw the carvings in the cave. Professor Elm started.
"Many in Johto, know the stories of the legendary beasts, I believe I have shared it with you in the past, but just in case… In theJohtoregion, 150 years ago,three unnamed Pokemon, either having always been aRaikou,Entei, andSuicune, or starting out as different Pokemon entirely were present inside the famousBrass Tower. One day, a lightning bolt hit the tower, starting a huge fire in it, which would be later put out by a sudden downpour. The three Pokémon perished in the fire, but as the sun rose,Ho-Ohappeared, granting the trio new life as Legendary Pokémon. The three nameless Pokémon were reborn as Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.
The three were to be said to represent the lightning, fire, and rain that transformed the Brass Tower into its current state. At first, the humans ofEcruteak Citywere in awe of this miracle, before that awe changed into great fear of Ho-Oh's power to manipulate life. This fear led to the townspeople threatening violence on the revived trio and Ho-Oh. Instead of retaliating back, the trio and Ho-Oh disappeared into the wilderness. Initially, the trio never returned out of fear of the violence the humans would inflict on them. They say all the Pokemon are awaiting a time when they could trust humans again. Now no one knows where the lightning bolt came from, but it is somehow connected to the meddling of humans in the Pokemon world."
Phillip looked long and hard at the image again. He then pointed to the large snake-like being over the five legendary beasts.
"And what about this?"
Foster began.
"I have heard of another legend, in the Alola Region, of a Pokemon by the name of Rayquaza, what you saw on the mountain, and what this image is depicting, it feels as though it may be him."
Phillip looked at Foster.
"Can you tell me more about him?"
Professor Elm also looked at Foster, leaning into the conversation as if he had never heard it before. Foster took a deep breath and began.
"Of course. Rayquaza has a strong and endless desire to do heroic deeds for thePokemon is said to be able to halt the endless battles of water and fire, by forcing both back into slumber. Rayquaza is the only one who can stop volcanoes and typhoons and restore order to nature. Rayquaza is said to have lived for hundreds of millions of years in theozone layer, where it feeds on water and other particles. It also feeds onmeteoroids,and even on theMiniorin thestratosphere. Rayquaza israrelyseen by people; even in flight, its appearance is indistinguishable from that of a meteor. For living in the ozone layer, it can breathe in outer space."
Phillip looked up.
"It was him. I saw Rayquaza on the mountain. I saw Rayquaza above the birthplace of Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos. I just know it."
"That is something truly special Phillip. Many have spent their entire lives striving for a glimpse of him. He is considered by many the god of dragons. For one who loves them as much as you do… I don't know… I can't explain the gravity of it. But it is huge. You may truly be in store for a special future."
"Thanks Foster. And thank you both for coming all the way out here."
As they made their way to the exit of the cave Phillip looked back over his shoulder at the images. He didn't know what the future held, but it was bright and he couldn't wait. He smiled as he turned back around to follow Professor Elm and Foster.
To be continued…